Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Theodore M. Way

In January 2016, Dr. Theodore M. Way will have been teaching at the Center for English as a Second Language (CESL) at the University of Kentucky for four years. Before working at CESL, he worked as a Refugee Resettlement Case Manager for Africa and the Middle East for the International Rescue Committee in Oakland and in San Francisco, California. Driven by the ongoing crisis in Syria and by the recent tragedy in Paris, France (among others), Dr. Way wrote an Op-Ed piece for the Lexington Herald Leader which was published on December 6, 2016. To read the full article, "Refugees Have Suffered Enough", please click here<http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article48051810.html>.

Dr. Way has taught English as a Second Language (ESL) not only here at the University of Kentucky, but in Canada, the United Kingdom, the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. Furthermore, Dr. Way has language proficiency in Spanish; Jordanian- and Moroccan-dialect Arabic; French; and Sinhalese.

Dr. Way was inspired to pursue ESL as a career after getting up the courage to ask about volunteer opportunities at the International Institute in his hometown of Buffalo, New York. There, he met his first ESL class full of asylum-seekers and refugees from Iraq, Somalia, and Vietnam. According to Dr. Way, after meeting these students, he felt that his life would never be the same.

"I love working with international students because there is something wonderful about meeting an adult during a moment of true renaissance in her or his life. While our students may range in age from 17 to 67, they all share a desire to be reborn, to recreate themselves, and to become better people along the way. That inspires me each and every day. "

You can contact Dr. Way via email at ted.way@uky.edu or the Center for English as a Second Language via email at esl@uky.edu or phone at 859-257-7003.